We dropped the mooring in Quarantine Bay at 7:45am on Tuesday morning and motored uneventfully to Norfolk Bay. 

We’d hoped to set off for Port Davey in mid-January, but persistent westerly winds prevented us.  Finally, on 22 January we departed Kettering, fully provisioned and fueled, with our friend Lindsay as guest and crew.

After a long winter confined mainly to nearby waters, we decided to head off for a week or two further afield.  Friends on Sheokee decided to sail in company with us and together we set off on a fine, calm morning across Storm Bay.

Despite purging the clams overnight in seawater and many changes of fresh water, there was still a lot of sand in the clams, so I ended up using only the cooking broth and a little bit of the solid muscle in the chowder. 

The trip back down the Tamar was just as picturesque as the trip up, with the bonus of a light tailwind. 

After a restless last night in Devonport, including a 3am bout of indecision about our change of plans, we left the Mersey Yacht club on the morning ebb tide. 

We spent 2 days enjoying the Orford anchorage while the westerly winds blew themselves out, then set off early Tuesday morning for Wineglass Bay. 

We finished up all our projects and local commitments and we were ready to set sail anytime after Tuesday.  However, a forecast showing a couple of fronts approaching and adverse wind conditions kept us waiting a few days.

During the night we heard the odd noise or two outside – maybe a block moving? maybe a few drops of rain?  Nothing to get out of bed and investigate.  In the morning all was revealed. 

We left George Town at the almost civilized hour of 06:50, on the outgoing tide, and enjoyed a 2kt push out of the Tamar.

We spent a week happily lounging around, visiting family and friends, and playing with our grandson, but with one eye on the weather forecasts.  A 2-3 day window of light winds seemed to be consistently showing for the end of the week, so we gathered up provisions and motored out of of the marina on Thursday morning.

I was very pleased to see that my anchor drop the previous day had been accurate and we had indeed dug well about 1m from the small sandy spot I’d aimed at.

After a windy day and night at anchor in Shoal Bay on Maria Island (with strong wind shifts from the east, south and west), we set off for Wineglass Bay, further up the coast. 

We’ve set off on our trip to Victoria to visit family and friends! I’ll try to post every few days or whenever we get a reasonable phone signal.

We had been planning a 2 week trip to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour with our friend Lindsay, but an expired alternator meant a change in plans.  The weather in early January was too good to waste, so we decided that a jaunt closer to home would be enjoyable and more prudent with only a single small working alternator.

We’ve been following the GGR for over a year on their facebook page and website.  This solo round the world race aims to recreate the conditions of the original GGR in 1968.  There are only two “gates” in the race that the entrants have to sail through – one in the Canary Islands and one just south of Hobart.

One should always have paper charts. We went one step further, 3D charts ie a globe.

From Jervis Bay to Eden, hug the coast to avoid the slight north going current. But from Eden to Tasmania there are eddies begging to be used.

Well, we did cross the Tasman back to Aus, albeit arriving in Newcastle, 260nm north of the intended destination of Eden.

Rusalka spent the night trying to swim upstream, with a strong current (over 3kts) against her.  It made for very slow progress.  All night the winds were strong and Rusalka was pounding and bashing her way into the wind at 6-7kt through the water, but barely 3kt over ground.  It was a very uncomfortable night for all.

This is Alex's report on the events of the last two days:

How was it that we found ourselves in this storm?

It wasn’t a very nice 24hrs for the crew of Rusalka.  Yesterday afternoon they were punching into 2.5-3m seas, making slow progress SW into 20-25kt WNW winds.  About 6pm NZ time, while having mushroom barley soup for dinner, they crossed the magical “halfway” mark of 162.05E (halfway between Nelson and Eden).

Storm Preparations: As Rusalka charges NW trying to get out of the way of the bad weather to come on Mon/Tues, Alex and crew are doing a few things to prepare for the wind and waves. 

Last night was still, with glassy seas. This morning there was a very slight low swell and grey skies. 

No pictures today, I'm afraid!  Just a quick update from Alex.  Rusalka's course on Day 1 was NNE across Tasman Bay and Cook Strait, with wind more or less on the beam.  A pod of dolphins escorted the boat out of Nelson - always a good omen! 

Summer’s gone and it’s time to head back to Tassie.  Alex has been checking the Predictwind forecasts daily and it’s starting to look like there will be windows available to get to Australia – at least somewhere in NSW, if not directly to Hobart, in the next week or so. 

We spent the better part of a week in Nelson, doing chores and chasing up leads for crew for the return journey, so we decided that we deserved a couple of days of play in Abel Tasman National Park. 

As always, the weather guides our plans. With a forecast of two calm days before a Northwesterly gale we decided to leave beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound and head back around Cape Jackson to visit Pelorus Sound. 

After a couple of rainy days we were getting itchy feet and decided to spend a few more days looking around the inner QCS area. 

After the big blow we spent Friday getting ready for a week of cruising – food shopping, fueling the boat, having one last restaurant meal.  We left Nelson on Saturday, in light winds heading for the notorious French Pass, that would let us slip under d’Urville Island and avoid some exposure to Cook Strait. 

A few videos of the relaxing passage

For those interested in how much fuel we used, and so on, here are The Numbers.

This is just a placeholder.  Judy B. and I (Jackie) are flying over to Nelson on Saturday to join Rusalka and to sail in the Marlborough Sounds.  We might not post for a few days while we get ourselves organised and provisioned, but then we'll share our pictures and stories on this blog site.  So keep watching.

All in one day...

Well, the fine weather and seas have given way to give a commonly heard of introduction to NZ. What started as a beautiful early morning, sailing gracefully, by late morning we found ourselves in the midst of a mild belting.

Morning Wednesday 24 January 2018 (Position report to follow this afternoon)

OFF WATCH

So what do we do when we're off-watch? Well, it's hard to say, but one thing is certain, it is not boring. It's been a very good passage so far....

Not much to report from Rusalka today. More light winds and calm seas. They finally turned the engine off again at 1pm today and are doing 6kt under full main and genoa.

From Rusalka:

Morning, 20 Jan. 2018. 

Settled into the routine of 3hour watches. All together for the main meal at about 6pm AEDT.

Rusalka sailed on today, passing Tasman Island around midday in calm conditions.

Alex and crew are ready to go! The boat is ready, passage planning is done and documentation is in order.  Provisions are stowed and meals are cooked, frozen, and waiting to be loaded on board.  But the weather is refusing to come to the party! 

Christmas Eve dinner on Rusalka in Norfolk Bay.  Quail in herb, champagne, and cream sauce with veggies and beetroot salad.  And dessert!!

Servicing continues. It's time for a new prop shaft seal after perhaps 7 years life of the old one